I gathered signatures on the petitions for candidates in the 2nd District for the June 8 Republican Primary— and I need to tell why this matters:
- Three of the candidates took this requirement as a race to see who could win and get their name on the ballot first.
- These three candidates/campaigns camped out at the 2nd District Republican chairman’s office as if they were trying to buy concert tickets.
- Scott Rigell wanted to report that he got the most signatures out of all the candidates, however, he did not because before he broke that story I let everyone know that he did not get even one of his own signatures for the ballot.
- I know this because I reviewed every sheet of every candidates’ petitions.
- My paperwork was the most thorough and completely filled out.
- I added the counts of all of our petitions in order to quantify how many signatures each candidate got themselves: Me = over 900, Loyola = 320, Sandlin = 280, Taylor = 200, Rigell = 0, Mizusawa = 0
- Wives that got signatures for their husband’s petitions: Maria = 200, Gretchen Loyola = 0, Sandlin (divorced), Taylor (single), Teri Rigell = 40, Yvonne Mizusawa = 0
The point is that my wife Maria and I took it seriously. Everyone of these signatures represents a 5-10 minute commitment and sometimes a 20-minute conversation with potential constituents about what they wanted to talk about. I answered all their questions, whether we agreed or not. This was a perfect opportunity for the candidates to put their money where there mouth is and prove that they were going to listen to the people. A couple of candidates could not even be bothered, they missed a great opportunity.
The biggest issue with voters right now is that they are not being heard: I can prove that I listened more to the voters than all the other candidates combined if you use the petitions as a gauge. I gathered as many signatures as humanly possible in the time frame allotted. My focus is still talking and listening to potential voters, to be there for them, and to always not be too busy to listen.
How may I listen to you? Feel free to share your comments and engage with me here. Ed
Photo credit: ky_olsen’s photostream
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